Is Bottled Water Better For You Than Tap Water?

By Janet Parker , CEO & Co-Founder, zazen Water

Some health conscious people have been misled into believing that bottled water is better for them than tap water, this is evident in the increase of Australians drinking more bottled water than ever before, with recent figures showing annual sales of still bottled water soared to 466 million litres in 2015, 39 per cent more than in 2010. The two main reasons stated for this increase are “health” and convenience.

But the cost of drinking bottled water adds up and may NOT be better for you after all.

When it comes to water, there's more to choose from than simply tap versus bottled. Let's closely examine each so you can make informed decisions about your water and your health.

Water is vital to every bodily function we have. Drinking the right quality and quantity of water will assist our bodies (which as adults are 72% water and children even higher) to perform at their best, increase energy & vitality and is essential for optimum hydration. Peak cellular hydration is the key to prevention of and recovery from illness and disease.

What is driving health conscious people to choose bottled water?

Many people are opting for bottled water over tap water, thinking that they are choosing the “healthier” and cleaner alternative. What is prompting people to make this choice?

There are an increasing and concerning amount of heavy metals and toxins present in our drinking water (whether it be from town supply / tap water or tank water) such as Lead, Copper, Mercury, Nickel, Aluminum and Cadmium.

It is necessary to remove these contaminants from your drinking water prior to consumption as studies have shown that many of these chemicals (especially disinfectant by-products (DBPs) can cause cancer! Filtering water is a great first step, and essential so that your body is not the filter but it is only 50% of the answer! (more on this below).

What you need to consider about drinking bottled water...

Aside from the environmental impact associated with drinking bottled water on a regular basis, there are also the financial costs and potential costs to your health to consider.

Also, drinking from some plastic water bottles is not a good idea. Plastic bottles can contain a chemical called bisphenol A or BPA, which is a synthetic hormone disruptor that has been linked to serious health problems.

Most bottled water is acidic – many we have tested have a pH below 7. Water in this state cannot hydrate your body. When water is acidic it seeks to rebalance itself by drawing minerals right out of your body – we have a term for this type of water and call it “Hungry Water”. It will also draw out contaminants from the container it's stored in for this same reason (e.g. leaching plastics!).

Drinking bottled water that is not hydrating you on a regular basis means the body becomes dehydrated and it struggles to get rid of metabolic waste, acid build up and toxins and will store them. Over time this can lead to illness, imbalance in the cells and disease.

Hungry Water vs Balanced Water is the key!One of the key principals and purpose of the zazen Alkaline Water Systems 10 Stage State-of-the-Art micro filtration process is to rebalance, remineralise (with a balanced range of alkaline minerals) and restructure your drinking water into an ideal state for cellular hydration. This means that the water is in a “balanced state” and “not hungry” – it has reached homeostasis and won’t seek to draw anything more from anywhere else – it will be absorbed immediately into your cells (other water will sit in your stomach and often gives you the feeling of being bloated!)

So is bottled water better for you than tap water?

School students conducted experiments in one of our zazen Water Ambassador School Program classrooms, and the results are shown in the picture below – look at the real difference and effect of bottled water, tap water and zazen Water on the growth rate of plants and their roots.

As you can see bottled water actually performed the worst in our classroom tests. Why?Because most bottled waters are striped of their mineral content in the filtration process, leaving you with “hungry”, acidic water. This results in a water that is not able to properly hydrate the body (or plants in this case). Dehydration prevents your body from performing at it’s best and may even lead to more serious health issues if a person becomes chronically dehydrated.

zazen Alkaline Water is a living water!

Remember, filtering water is a great first step, but it is only 50% of the answer…

To get the next 50% we must ask:

What are the properties of water that support health and wellbeing?

Another way to ask this question is to ask What is the purpose of water in the body?

zazen Water is balanced alkaline mineral water! Our balanced range of natural mineral salts are critical for hydration. For water to act as a nutrient to your body and increase your wellbeing, energy and vitality, it must be filtered (cleaned of toxins, bad bacteria and chemicals), be mineral and electrolyte rich, mildly alkaline, naturally energised and have smaller water clusters for cellular hydration.

zazen Water mimics what Mother Nature does naturally. People love the taste of zazen Water – especially children. zazen Alkaline water is not only for drinking but used to cook with, rinse vegetables (which last longer), put fresh cut flowers into (again they also last longer) and for making great tasting tea and coffee.

Water that contains the right properties, including a balanced range of minerals, is readily received and absorbed into the body for cellular hydration. Cellular Hydration will provide increased energy and vitality and can support a whole health strategy for a longer, healthier life! That is the true purpose of water!